connecting with the earth

vertical stand garden

The burning of Narakasura is a big event in Goa, the legend has it that the only person who could kill him was his mother Bhumi devi. Goa also has the tradition of worshiping Satteri, a kind of anthill which indicates fertile lands, then we the Dolpods of Goa which begin with a dedication of Vandevi.

The honouring of the Yaksha , all this somehow makes me feel that we are so rooted in the culture of earth reverence there are shamans in the ancient cultures who practised this medicine.

When I see emotional insecurities in my patients due to lack of tribe rooting, or geographic bonding, it does make sense.

Our harvest centred festival culture root to the earth, and connects us to her innate spiritual strength. With migration and urbanization these roots have got loosened. But we can claim this wisdom as an essential part of who we are.

One way we can find this is to explore the early earth based religion practised in the parts that birthed our ancestors. Every ancient religion, be it Asian Indian, American Indian, African or Australian practise some form or the other or earth spirituality. We are so much like the soil from where we come, I remember my husband’s guruji telling us, that “people from the coast are like the sand if you hold them too hard, or if you let them go they just go away.”

Like I said as I found the re-rooting the patients back to their disowned roots, some were traceable, sometimes we had to recreate in new context but connect with the earth was vital. With this there was sense of belonging and then came rituals of reconnecting. Observing the equinoxes, honouring the season cycle.

These brought a great sense of connect with life and living in turn enhancing participation both in professional and personal life.